Urban Outfitters Expanding Its South Philly Campus

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The clothing and decor giant Urban Outfitters is stitching together an expansion of its facilities at the former Philadelphia Navy Yard (above).

Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter praised the home-grown company for its decision to grow its operations.

"They're already housed in six buildings here at the Navy Yard, and today we're marking the expansion into two new buildings: Building 14 and Building 3, formerly known as the Navy Yard Cruise Ship Terminal," Nutter said today.

The company will invest between $18 million and $20 million to renovate the buildings and improve infrastructure.

Nutter says the renovations are set to be done by February 2012.

Richard Hayne, Urban Outfitters' president, says the move to the Navy Yard has paid big dividends.

"We wanted to create the best campus in the United States for a creative culture and we felt that we could do it at the Navy Yard," he said.

The company says the move to the Navy Yard from center city in 2006 has gone so well that expansion reflects the need to meet growing demand.

Hayne says the expansion means a thousand new jobs at their South Philadelphia campus during the next three years.

Reported by Mark Abrams, KYW Newsradio 1060.